MSG picks top moments of 75 years of college hoops

Madison Square Garden will conduct a season-long celebration of 75 years of college basketball by selecting the 10 top moments in the building's storied history. The list of nominated moments was released Tuesday and the order of the top 10 as selected by a panel including sports writers, broadcasters, coaches and officials will be revealed during games at the Garden in November and December. The first of the moments will announced Thursday night during the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. The top three moments will be revealed Dec. 9 during the SEC-Big East Invitational. The first college games were played at the old Garden on Dec. 29, 1934, with NYU beating Notre Dame 25-18 in the opener and Westminster beating St. John's 37-33. Among the nominated moments were: the first doubleheader; Ernie Calverley's 55-foot shot that gave Rhode Island a win over Bowling Green in the 1946 NIT; CCNY's NIT and NCAA championships in 1950; Lew Alcindor's performance for UCLA in the 1968 Holiday Festival; Carol Blazejowski's 52-point performance for Montclair State in 1977; St. John's winning the Big East title in 1983; Syracuse's Dwayne "Pearl" Washington turns the Garden into "his house" in 1984; the "Sweater Game" between Georgetown and St. John's in 1985; Ray Allen and Connecticut win the Big East title at the buzzer in 1996; St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca has his banner raised in 2001; Gerry McNamara's heroics lead Syracuse to 2006 Big East title; Pitt defeats Duke in a battle of unbeatens in 2007; and Syracuse's six-overtime win over Connecticut in the 2009 Big East tournament.